What's the key to landing on the right note AND flowing ideas that fit?

[cragginshred]

I listen to guys like the current guitarist for Dokken John Levine and he is a master of finishing shred licks on not just notes that work but notes that grab your ear. What is this technique and how can I steal it?

Also what has helped you flow ideas when improvising or writing solos?

 

[cragginshred]

First part he is just landing on octaves but the last 3 or 4 bends were what I am talking about more or less

 

[fetishfrog]

The technique is to sit down and work out ideas that start and end on the notes you want to hear. This sounds oversimplified, but I can guarantee he's spent uncountable hours doing exactly that, which is why he's so good at it. It 'flows' because now it is second nature.

 

[PLX]

weed

 

[FuzzyAce]

For improvising solos, which is most of the time for me except for certain melody lines, I try to end on a 5th, 7th, 9th, 3rd, etc, but depends on the following chord(s) whether that can or should hold over or not. If not, just do a slight shift up or down to accommodate.
Anything goes, really. I just follow my ear.

 

[Eagle]

Good improvisation comes from being so comfortable with the theory that when you are performing you don’t think about it at all. Your fingers need to be able to follow whatever musical whim crosses your mind. Theory here can either be years of study and practice or a more holistic approach but excellence in either takes you to the same place.

 

[cragginshred]

Quote

Good improvisation comes from being so comfortable with the theory that when you are performing you don’t think about it at all. Your fingers need to be able to follow whatever musical whim crosses your mind. Theory here can either be years of study and practice or a more holistic approach but excellence in either takes you to the same place.

which I am not, hence the discussion for tips with guys like me who go more by feel and ear training.

 

[PLX]

Quote

which I am not, hence the discussion for tips with guys like me who go more by feel and ear training.

I just try to practice every lick I know in the key of A.. that way it's all relative when I have to play in another key, I know where everything is.

 

[Eagle]

Quote

which I am not, hence the discussion for tips with guys like me who go more by feel and ear training.

You could learn some basic theory. What are the important notes in each chord and aim for them. Look for notes that aren’t in each chord to suggest different scale changes. Use some symmetrical scales like whole tone or diminished to link between things. Dissonance before the resolution.
Theory helps most when you are out of ideas.

 

[PLX]

Theory helps most when you are out of ideas.

You know what helps the most when you're out of ideas ?

Weed and YouTube guitar videos.

 

[la szum]

I don't think there is a right note. There are a variety of right notes---depending on what we
want to say, as well as what we are capable of saying.

I look at it like a language. Like speaking or writing. The more words and phrases in our
vocabulary the more possibilities we have for expressing ourselves. A limited vocabulary
is going to limit how well we can communicate. Build up the vocabulary by learning new
word and phrases (licks, sequences) and any of us will have more options for expressing
ourselves musically.

As for the bends in question---that is pretty standard fare for rock guitarists from Gilmour
to Lynch. Bending a 7th up to the Root, or the 4th up to the 5th. Half step bends are great,
too. Especially in minour keys/tonalities. The 2nd bent up to the flatted 3rd.... or the 5th up
to the flatted 6th are half step bends that can add a lot of flavour.

Root up to minour 3rd is fun, too. Step and an half.

 

[cragginshred]

I don't think there is a right note. There are a variety of right notes---depending on what we
want to say, as well as what we are capable of saying.

I look at it like a language. Like speaking or writing. The more words and phrases in our
vocabulary the more possibilities we have for expressing ourselves. A limited vocabulary
is going to limit how well we can communicate. Build up the vocabulary by learning new
word and phrases (licks, sequences) and any of us will have more options for expressing
ourselves musically.

As for the bends in question---that is pretty standard fare for rock guitarists from Gilmour
to Lynch. Bending a 7th up to the Root, or the 4th up to the 5th. Half step bends are great,
too. Especially in minour keys/tonalities. The 2nd bent up to the flatted 3rd.... or the 5th up
to the flatted 6th are half step bends that can add a lot of flavour.

Root up to minour 3rd is fun, too. Step and an half.

Well said, any videos to aid in my grasping these concepts?

What has broken open my mindless shred mentality has been learning the Steve Lukather style. his written solos over his live flurries have been super helpful in 'saying something' in my solos and hearing how licks fit together as opposed to cramming a bunch of stuff together that may or may not fit

 

[Sleezy E]

weed

 

[PLX]

 

[DrewJD82]

I don't know nearly enough theory to use it to write with, so I'll just improvise until I find little nuggets I dig and then figure out the 'connector licks' to stick them together. Almost every solo I wrote that I actually dig, I've written backwards, coming up with the last portion of it first and had to figure out how to get there from the beginning. I tend to stick the shreddy stuff into those 'connector licks' because I prefer it in short bursts rather than getting blasted by it.

Being mindful of what's going on in the song is pretty huge, whatever subdivision/cymbal the drummer is hitting is going to have a big impact on the choices I make. Unless it's metal, if the drummer is laying back that's usually the time to open up on guitar and vice versa, or you build off each other. Any time a solo has two sections it's over, I'll try to make the 2nd section more exciting than the first so it's building up the whole time. The right notes aren't the right notes until their flowing out right and that takes the band to happen, gnome sane?

This one wraps up a bunch of the above- I had the last lick figured out before any of it, then the intro part and wanted the intensity to kick up in the 2nd half and used the divebomb as a connector to get there, jumping up to the 2nd octave after. Then in the last portion of the solo, I use that shreddy connector riff to help build intensity as the drums move from the ride to the crash right as that ending melody comes in.


This one, the octave chord ending was written into the song already and I just thought it was a cool way to end it. I stuck more with the lyrical content of this song when writing the solo, I wanted the lead to be a bit understated, almost tired sounding before hitting the second half where it'd pick up and almost come off as happy. Note the change in drums/percussion in the 2nd half of the solo and how it changes the whole feel, nothing from the second half would have worked in the first half-


This partcular vid is the improvised take I used to write the solo, I played this first then added the harmony at the end after, after stumbling on that little melody right before the whammy bar part at the end. That blues lick/double stop part at 0:20 is another good drum interplay example, I'm hitting those double stops each time the crash is getting hit, giving that section a bit more impact. This one is a bunch of mini-melodies held together by more 'connector licks' that help set them up.


I dunno if any of that makes sense to anyone else, but that's the extent of thought I put into writing them.

 

[cragginshred]

Thanks Drew I'll ck out the videos. Waaay more helpful to hear and see the suggestions!

 

[cragginshred]

I don't know nearly enough theory to use it to write with, so I'll just improvise until I find little nuggets I dig and then figure out the 'connector licks' to stick them together. Almost every solo I wrote that I actually dig, I've written backwards, coming up with the last portion of it first and had to figure out how to get there from the beginning. I tend to stick the shreddy stuff into those 'connector licks' because I prefer it in short bursts rather than getting blasted by it.

Being mindful of what's going on in the song is pretty huge, whatever subdivision/cymbal the drummer is hitting is going to have a big impact on the choices I make. Unless it's metal, if the drummer is laying back that's usually the time to open up on guitar and vice versa, or you build off each other. Any time a solo has two sections it's over, I'll try to make the 2nd section more exciting than the first so it's building up the whole time. The right notes aren't the right notes until their flowing out right and that takes the band to happen, gnome sane?

This one wraps up a bunch of the above- I had the last lick figured out before any of it, then the intro part and wanted the intensity to kick up in the 2nd half and used the divebomb as a connector to get there, jumping up to the 2nd octave after. Then in the last portion of the solo, I use that shreddy connector riff to help build intensity as the drums move from the ride to the crash right as that ending melody comes in.


This one, the octave chord ending was written into the song already and I just thought it was a cool way to end it. I stuck more with the lyrical content of this song when writing the solo, I wanted the lead to be a bit understated, almost tired sounding before hitting the second half where it'd pick up and almost come off as happy. Note the change in drums/percussion in the 2nd half of the solo and how it changes the whole feel, nothing from the second half would have worked in the first half-


This partcular vid is the improvised take I used to write the solo, I played this first then added the harmony at the end after, after stumbling on that little melody right before the whammy bar part at the end. That blues lick/double stop part at 0:20 is another good drum interplay example, I'm hitting those double stops each time the crash is getting hit, giving that section a bit more impact. This one is a bunch of mini-melodies held together by more 'connector licks' that help set them up.


I dunno if any of that makes sense to anyone else, but that's the extent of thought I put into writing them.

Dude, absolutely killer playing!
The 1st 2 sound a lot like Vai. Were those using the Lydian mode like he tends to?

The last one has a fantastic clean ish solo tone! I assumes that was using the Fractal? Could I possibly get that pre set?

Thanks, Don

 

[DrewJD82]

Dude, absolutely killer playing!
The 1st 2 sound a lot like Vai. Were those using the Lydian mode like he tends to?

The last one has a fantastic clean ish solo tone! I assumes that was using the Fractal? Could I possibly get that pre set?

Thanks, Don

Thanks, brother!

Hahahha I can only retain modes for the several hours I'm practicing them, then I immediately forget them. If it's not identifiable as a regular minor scale then it's 100% Idunnoian.

I think you have an FM3, right? I remade the preset so hopefully it fits. There's a surprising amount of distortion on it, the single coils are certainly playing a heavy hand in that spanky/clean sound. There's also a Dry Bell Vibe that I kicked on about halfway through it set pretty slow.

Axe-Change - Download Preset - Strat Superlead - by revdrucifer

Axechange - Fractal Audio Systems. The official source for presets and cabs for your Axe-Fx. Download presets and cabs, or upload your own creations.

axechange.fractalaudio.com

 

[cragginshred]

Thanks, brother!

Hahahha I can only retain modes for the several hours I'm practicing them, then I immediately forget them. If it's not identifiable as a regular minor scale then it's 100% Idunnoian.

I think you have an FM3, right? I remade the preset so hopefully it fits. There's a surprising amount of distortion on it, the single coils are certainly playing a heavy hand in that spanky/clean sound. There's also a Dry Bell Vibe that I kicked on about halfway through it set pretty slow.

Axe-Change - Download Preset - Strat Superlead - by revdrucifer

Axechange - Fractal Audio Systems. The official source for presets and cabs for your Axe-Fx. Download presets and cabs, or upload your own creations.

axechange.fractalaudio.com

Idunnoian Ha!!!! That's about my experience with modes too. Following countless inquiries on multiple forums well meaning theory minded peeps try to explain the crux of -I'm in Myxolydian at what ever fret,... when I go to the next position the next modes fits right? Am I still in Mixo or the new mode? The goal would be to stay in the same mode due to soloing over a particular chord progression,.. but no one can explain how to stay in whatever mode up and down the neck

I'll ck out the pre set and yes FM3, much appreciation!!

 

[DrewJD82]

Idunnoian Ha!!!! That's about my experience with modes too. Following countless inquiries on multiple forums well meaning theory minded peeps try to explain the crux of -I'm in Myxolydian at what ever fret,... when I go to the next position the next modes fits right? Am I still in Mixo or the new mode? The goal would be to stay in the same mode due to soloing over a particular chord progression,.. but no one can explain how to stay in whatever mode up and down the neck

I'll ck out the pre set and yes FM3, much appreciation!!

Check out the Guitar Grimoire Scales And Modes book, it has every scale/mode and shows the locations on the neck for every key you’re in. Whenever I DO get away from the minor scale, I pretty much keep the book open in front of me to reference nonstop……then forget as soon as it’s closed!